Defense Asks For Case Against Brent Burke To Be Thrown Out

Prosecutors continued to press their case against Ft. Campbell Military Police Officer Brent Burke Wednesday, asserting he killed his estranged wife, Tracy Burke, and her former mother-in-law, Karen Comer, at Comer's Rineyville home in September 2007.

After six days of arguments and forensic evidence, prosecutors have not linked any of the evidence to Brent Burke, leaving jurors at a difficult intersection: evidence or testimony?

Jurors heard from Sgt. Christopher Osten who served with Brent Burke in Afghanistan. He described what he knew about the relationship between Brent and Tracy Burke.

"At first it was OK," Osten said. "And right when the divorce started, I'd hear him talk about his wife and how much money she took from him while he was deployed and the whole nine yards."

Osten testified that on Sept. 10, 2007, the night of the slayings, he worked with Brent Burke at Fort Campbell.

"That particular night, we got done around 10:30 p.m.," he testified.

Osten said the following day Burke was noticeably tired and even slept at work.

"I'm driving and I look over at him. I said, 'What's going on?' He says, 'I'm tired.' So I drove a bit longer. Few minutes later, he was passed out. I asked him, 'What's up?' He said he was out car shopping," Osten said.

The prosecution rested its case, but before Burke's attorneys called their first witness, they asked for the case to be thrown out due to the lack of forensic evidence linking Burke to the crime scene.

The motion was denied.

This is Burke's fourth trial. The first three were all declared mistrials.

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